A foreman's comment about my bead profile stuck with me

Last month on a tank job in Tulsa, the foreman watched me lay a root pass and said, 'You're moving too fast, the toes aren't washing in.' I thought I was doing fine, but he had me slow down and drop my amperage by 15. Next pass came out flatter and the x-ray came back clean. Has anyone else had to unlearn a speed habit after a direct critique like that?

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the_jake18d ago

Man, that critique hits different when you know they're right, doesn't it? I had the same thing happen on a pipeline job a few years back. My foreman watched me run a hot pass and just said, "You're chasing the puddle, not letting it catch up." I was so used to moving fast that I didn't even see the cold lap forming on the toes. Dropped my travel speed by like a third and the cap came out so much smoother, plus the UT guy stopped flagging my welds. It's wild how we think speed equals skill until someone points out the exact spot where it don't.